X-y plotter toy

ABSTRACT

A toy which enables a child to draw pictures by remote manipulation of a writing instrument, including a frame for supporting a sheet of paper, a marker holder for holding a writing instrument over the paper, and a pair of knobs which can be turned by a child to move the holder in each of two perpendicular directions over the paper. The marker holder is mounted for sliding in the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;X&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; direction on a carriage and the carriage is mounted to move in the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;Y&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; direction on the frame. When a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;Y&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; knob is turned by a child, it rotates a pulley which moves a cord that is attached to the carriage to move it in the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;Y&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position. When an &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;X&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; knob is turned, it rotates a square shaft, and a pinion rotatably mounted on the carriage and coupled to the shaft then moves a rack on the marker holder to slide it in the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;X&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; direction. A program in the form of a strip with rows of letters and numbers defining &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;X&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;Y&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; locations to which the holder can be moved, defines a picture that can be drawn by a child.

United States Patent Schlau et al.

as] May 30, 1972 [54] X-Y PLOTTER TOY [72] Inventors: Floyd E. Schlnu,Palos Verdes Estates; Al-

bert L. Anderson, Los Angeles; Eugene J. Kilroy, Jr., Inglewood; AlcwynFllcker, Carson, all of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

[22] Filed: Dec. 7, 1970 [2 l) Appl. No.: 95,662

Primary Examiner-Leonard Forman Assistant ExaminerCharles E. PhillipsAttorney-Seymour A. Scholnick [57] ABSTRACT A toy which enables a childto draw pictures by remote manipulation of a writing instrument,including a frame for supporting a sheet of paper, a marker holder forholding a writing instrument over the paper, and a pair of knobs whichcan be turned by a child to move the holder in each of two perpendiculardirections over the paper. The marker holder is mounted for sliding inthe X" direction on a carriage and the carriage is mounted to move inthe "Y direction on the frame. When a Y" knob is turned by a child, itrotates a pulley which moves a cord that is attached to the carriage tomove it in the "Y" position. When an X knob is turned, it rotates asquare shaft, and a pinion rotatably mounted on the carriage and coupledto the shaft then moves a rack on the marker holder to slide it in the"X" direction. A program in the form of a strip with rows of letters andnumbers defining "X and Y locations to which the holder can be moved,defines a picture that can be drawn by a child.

5 China, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEBMAY 30 m2 3,665,610

sum 2 or 2 IBTPB Mlez .ALCWYU F41 cKse l NWZNTORS an PLO'I'I'ER rovBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to toy drawing apparatus.

2. Description of the Prior Art Entertaining toys are provided bymachines that allow a child to manipulate a marking instrument from aremote location. Various devices can be employed to move a drawinginstrument in two perpendicular directions, such as threaded rods thatare turned to move a nut that carries the instrument, or a cable thatmoves the instrument when a child turns a pulley about which the cableis wrapped. However, in many of such plotting devices, it has beennecessary for a child to turn knobs that are positioned at differentcorners of the apparatus, and that are therefore inconvenient tosimultaneously manipulate, particularly in a large plotting device. Aplotting device which allowed a child to move a marker in twoperpendicular directions from a single station, would allow for finecontrol and therefore would allow the creation of better drawings.

It is generally more difficult for a child to control the movements of amarker that is remotely operated than it is for him to directly move apencil, and the entertainment value derives primarily from the noveltyof remotely moving a marker. If plotting apparatus were available whichallowed children to draw attractive pictures that they might otherwisenot be able to draw, then the entertainment of the plotter could befurther enhanced.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present inventionis to provide a simple plotting toy which is easy to manipulate.

Another object is to provide plotting apparatus which allows a child toaccurately draw attractive pictures designed by professional designers.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a simpledrawing machine is provided which enables manipulation of a marker intwo perpendicular directions by turning knobs located close together onthe apparatus. The machine includes a carriage that can slide in a Y"direction, and an elongated marker-holding member slidably mounted onthe carriage to move a drawing instrument in an X direction. When achild turns a Y knob, he rotates a pulley which moves a cord that isfixed to the carriage, to move the carriage in the Y direction. When thechild turns an X knob, he causes rotation of a square shaft and rotationof a pinion through which the shaft extends. The pinion is rotatablymounted on the carriage and is engaged with a toothed rack on themarker-holding member to slide it in the X direction. The X and Y knobsare positioned at one corner of a rectangular frame and can be rotatedabout axes oriented about 70 from the vertical to enable easymanipulation by a child.

Both the elongated marker-holding member and the housing along which thecarriage moves have scales to indicate the location of the marker, onescale having letters and the other numerals. A program supplied with thedrawing machine contains a sequence of numerals and letters for a childto follow. If the child draws a picture following the program, anattractive picture will be produced. The picture can be designed byprofessional persons so that a highly attractive pattern is created. Notonly can a child create an attractive pattern, but the mystery involvedin determining what the picture will be like and the entertainment indrawing the picture to solve the mystery enhances the enjoyment whichchildren can derive.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity inthe appended claims. The invention will be best understood from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a toydrawing machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

but

FIG. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial view, partly in section, of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 with some parts shownin elevation; and

FIG. 6 is a view of a program which is useful in the machine of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a drawingmachine constructed in accordance with the invention, which includes aframe 10 with a paper-holding region 12 that can hold a sheet of paper14 to be drawn upon. A housing portion 16 of the frame contains amechanism for moving an elongated marker holder 18 in the X and Ydirections so that the marker holder can move a pen 20 or other drawinginstrument in these directions. An X knob 22 and Y knob 24 are rotatablymounted on the housing portion 16 close to one another and at one comerof the frame. A child can readily grasp both knobs 22 and 24 and rotatethem so as to closely control the movements of the pen 20 along thepaper. It should be noted that while the X direction usually refers tothe horizontal as seen by the observor, while Y refers to the vertical,the designations can be reversed, so long as the X and Y directions aresubstantially perpendicular.

The drawing machine can be used in several ways. The most obvious use isfor a child to create a drawing by merely observing the pen 20 as hemanipulates the knobs 22 and 24. Another way in which the machine can beused is to copy a picture. To facilitate copying, a pointer 26 ismounted on the elongated marker holder 18 at a position spaced from thelocation of the pen 20. If a drawing to be copied is placed under thepointer 26, and a child manipulates the knobs 22, 24 so as to followalong lines of the drawing to be copied, then the pen 20 will reproducethe drawing. Still another way in which the drawing machine can beutilized is to closely follow a set of directions contained on a programmember 28 that can be mounted on the frame. The program of member 28contains a series of coordinates to which the pen 20 can be moved insuccession to create a picture previously designed by a professionalartist.

As also shown in FIGS. 2-5, the marker holder 18 is slidably mounted ona carriage 30. The marker holder 18 is constrained to slide in the Xdirection relative to the carriage 30, while the carriage 30 isconstrained to slide in the Y direction along the housing portion 16 ofthe frame. The marker holder 18 is driven in the X direction by a pinion32 that is rotatably mounted on the carriage 30 and which is engagedwith the teeth of a rack portion 34 that is formed in the marker holder18. The pinion 32 has a square hole 36 that receives a square shaft 38which extends in the Y direction. When the shaft 38 rotates, the pinion32 rotates and drives the marker holder 18, The shaft 38 is rotatablymounted at its opposite ends on the housing portion 16. A bevel gear 40fixed to the shaft is engaged with another bevel gear 42 that is fixedto the X knob 22. When a child rotates the X knob 22, the gears 42 and40 rotate, causing the shaft 38 and pinion 32 to rotate, and therebycausing the marker holder 18 to move in the X direction.

Movement of the carriage 30 in the Y direction causes the marker holderI8 and marker 20 thereon to move in the Y direction. As best shown inFIG. 4, the Y knob 24 is fixed to a drive pulley 44 which can move acord 46. The cord 46 extends in an elongated loop parallel to the shaft38, with one end of the loop extending around the drive pulley 44 andthe other end extending along an opposite idler pulley 48. The pulley 48is mounted at 50 to the housing portion I6 and the cord 46 is fixed at58 to the carriage 30, so that as the cord 46 is moved along its length,the carriage 30 is moved in the Y direction along the frame. In order totake up slack, a spring 60 is connected in the loop of cord 46. It maybe noted that the pinion 32 can freely slide along the shaft 38,although it is always drivingly engaged with the shalt to allow rotationby it. Instead of employing a shaft of square cross-section, a shaft ofany constant non-circular cross-section can be utilized. Also, insteadof using gear teeth on the pinion and rack, rubber surfaces can be used,although slippage is then more likely to occur.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the X and Y knobs 22 and 24 are positioned onopposite sides of the housing portion 16 and are oriented so their axesof rotation 62, 64 form an angle A of about 70 with imaginary verticallines 66, that is, with lines that are normal to the paperholding region12. If the knobs were oriented to rotate about a horizontal axis, onparticularly a vertical axis, then a child would have to twist his handin an unnatural fashion in order to grasp and turn the knobs. While achild can readily do this, such twisting reduces his ability toaccurately manipulate the knobs, and therefore decreases his controlover the position of the drawing pen. By orienting the knobs about axesthat are angled substantially from the vertical and from the horizontal,that is, by an angle A between about and 80 from the vertical,manipulation can be performed with the least twisting of the child'shands and therefore with maximum agility. The use of a gear drive allowsthe X knobs 22 to be oriented at any angle, inasmuch as it does notmatter at what position the bevel gear 42 contacts the other bevel gear40. The use of a pulley and cord drive enables orientation of the Y knobat a variety of angles, to permit a choice of angles that is mostcomfortable for a child.

In order to provide an accurate indication of the location of thedrawing pen 20, an X scale 68 is printed on the marker holder 18 and a Yscale 70 is printed on the housing portion 16. The X scale 68 is formedby successive numerals while the Y scale 70 is formed by successiveletters. As shown in FIG. 4, an X indicator 72 points to one of thenumerals on the X scale 68, and as shown in FIG. I, a marker 74 on thecarriage that moves along a groove 75, points to one of the letters onthe Y scale 70. The provision of the scales and indicators facilitatesuse of the drawing machine to follow the program 28.

FIG. 6 shows a typical program member 28 which can be held on thehousing portion 16 of the drawing machine. The program member 28 is astrip of paper with rows of coordinates printed thereon. In theillustrated program member 28, a heading 76 designates an initialposition D 11." This directs the child to manipulate the knob so thatthe indicators 72 and 74 show the position D along the Y scale and theposition 11 along the X scale. The first row 78 of the program containsthe coordinates A 16 B." This indicates that a child should first turnthe Y knob 24 to move the carriage down to the A" position, then movethe X knob 22 so that the marker holder 18 is moved to the 16 position,and to then move the knob again so that the carriage moves up to the B"position. The rest of the rows of coordinates are to be followed in asimilar fashion, from left to right in each row and from the rightmostcoordinate in each row to the leftmost coordinate in the row immediatelybelow it. The reason why each row contains three coordinates is thatthis allows every row that begins with a letter to be followed by a rowof coordinates that begins with a numeral, and vice versa. Thealternation of letters and numerals of the beginning of the rows reducesthe chances of confusion, that is, the possibility of a child repeatingor skipping a row. Of course, the same can be accomplished with any oddnumber of coordinate designations per row.

The housing portion 16 of the drawing machine is designed to facilitatethe following of a program by a child. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatusincludes members 80 that form a slot 82 through which the program strip28 can be moved. The space between the members 80 forms a window 84which displays one row of the program at a time. A child utilizes aprogram by slipping the upper end through the slot so that the first row78 of the program shows through the window 84. Afler moving the knobs tothe three coordinate positions defined by the first row of the programs,the child shifts the strip upwardly through the slot 82 until the nextrow of the program is seen through the window. This continues until theprogram has been completed. The use of the window 84 reduces thepossibility of mistakes and makes it easier for a child to keep track ofthe activity.

A drawing set may be supplied with a large number of program strips,inasmuch as they can be produced very economically. Not only issatisfaction derived from the creation of an attractive design, but thechild also thereby learns what the design looks like. The program stripscan be unidentified as to the drawing which they represent, so that thedesign can be discovered only by drawing it. The strips can be used inconjunction with a secret story or the like wherein a child essentiallydecodes a message or diagram by drawing it in accordance with theprogram. It is also possible to supply stickon scales to place over theX scale 68 and Y scale 70, with such stick-on scales having foreignalphabets, word-pictures, abstract symbols, or special coding symbols.

Thus, the invention provides a simple and easy to use drawing machinefor the remote manipulation of a drawing instrument. The instrument canbe utilized for free hand-type drawing, to copy another drawing, or toconvert a program to a drawing. The use of a program not only allows anattractive drawing to be made, but allows a code that defines a diagramto be deciphered in an entertaining manner.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variationsmay readily occur to those skilled in the art and, consequently, it isintended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications andequivalents.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy drawing machine comprising:

a frame having a paper-holding region;

an X knob rotatably mounted on said frame;

a Y knob rotatably mounted on said frame;

a shaft of non-circular cross-section rotatably mounted on said frameand coupled to said X knob to be rotated by it;

a carriage mounted to slide along said frame parallel to said shaft;

pinion means engaged with said shaft to be rotated by it and coupled tosaid carriage to move with it in a direction parallel to said shafi;

an elongated holder member slidably engaged with said carriage to movewith it while enabling sliding perpendicular to the length of saidshaft, said holder member including means for holding a writinginstrument to move it over said paper holding region;

rack means on said holder member, said rack means coupled to said pinionmeans for sliding said holder member in response to rotation of saidpinion means;

a drive pulley rotatably mounted on said frame and coupled to said Yknob to be rotated by it; and

cord means extending in an elongated loop parallel to said shaft, oneend of said loop extending about said drive pulley, and said cord meansfixed to said carriage to drive it.

2. The toy drawing machine described in claim I wherein:

said frame includes an elongated housing portion extending above thelevel of said paper-holding region; and

said X and Y knobs are rotatably mounted on opposite sides of saidhousing portion, the axis of rotation of each of said knobs formingacute angles between 20 and with imaginary lines that are normal to theplane of said paperholding region.

3. The toy drawing machine described in claim I wherein:

said means for holding a writing instrument is located at one end ofsaid holder member; and including pointer means mounted at an end ofsaid holder member opposite said instrument holding means, whereby toenable copying of drawings.

4. The toy drawing machine described in claim 1 including:

a program in the form of a strip containing coordinate designations; and

means on said frame for holding said program including walls defining aslot for closely receiving said strip program while allowing it to beslid therethrough.

5. The toy drawing instrument described in claim I includmg:

a first scale mounted on said holder member to indicate the X coordinateposition thereof, said first scale including a series of numbercoordinates;

plurality of rows beginning with a letter and rows therebetweenbeginning with a number, and each of said plurality of rows containingan odd plurality of coordinates.

1. A toy drawing machine comprising: a frame having a paper-holdingregion; an X knob rotatably mounted on said frame; a Y knob rotatablymounted on said frame; a shaft of non-circular cross-section rotatablymounted on said frame and coupled to said X knob to be rotated by it; acarriage mounted to slide along said frame parallel to said shaft;pinion means engaged with said shaft to be rotated by it and coupled tosaid carriage to move with it in a direction parallel to said shaft; anelongated holder member slidably engaged with said carriage to move withit while enabling sliding perpendicular to the length of said shaft,said holder member including means for holding a writing instrument tomove it over said paper holding region; rack means on said holdermember, said rack means coupled to said pinion means for sliding saidholder member in response to rotation of said pinion means; a drivepulley rotatably mounted on said frame and coupled to said Y knob to berotated by it; and cord means extending in an elongated loop parallel tosaid shaft, one end of said loop extending about said drive pulley, andsaid cord means fixed to said carriage to drive it.
 2. The toy drawingmachine described in claim 1 wherein: said frame includes an elongatedhousing portion extending above the level of said paper-holding region;and said X and Y knobs are rotatably mounted on opposite sides of saidhousing portion, the axis of rotation of each of said knobs formingacute angles between 20* and 80* with imaginary lines that are normal tothe plane of said paper-holding region.
 3. The toy drawing machinedescribed in claim 1 wherein: said means for holding a writinginstrument is located at one end of said holder member; and includingpointer means mounted at an end of said holder member opposite saidinstrument holding means, whereby to enable copying of drawings.
 4. Thetoy drawing machine described in claim 1 including: a program in theform of a strip containing coordinate designations; and means on saidframe for holding said program including walls defining a slot forclosely receiving said strip program while allowing it to be slidtherethrough.
 5. The toy drawing instrument described in claim 1including: a first scale mounted on said holder member to indicate the Xcoordinate position thereof, said first scale including a series ofnumber coordinates; a second scale mounted on said frame adjacent saidcarriage normal to said first scale to indicate the Y coordinateposition of said holder member, said second scale including a series ofletter coordinates; and a strip program having a plurality of rows ofcoordinates, designating steps of a program, every other one of saidplurality of rows beginning with a letter and rows therebetweenbeginning with a number, and each of said plurality of rows containingan odd plurality of coordinates.